Jbr

I got peanuts lol. Last year I rode to the start from table view, there was a bit of a headwind which meant my calculations weren't really spot on and I only got there 10 mins before the start but had to muscle my way through 1000 people in all the chutes, the year before we could go straight to the front but last year they wouldn't let me so had to go the long way. Ended up starting the race at 170bpm. Not keen to do the same thing this year. But you are right, if there's one race you want to be properly warmed up for it's cycle tour, because it starts full gas from the gun (or at least from the moment the car lets us race)

Definitely a win yes ! For sure when you put it like this, I don't why I expected to just walk in, drop the paperwork and walk out with two cards, just like the tokai permits system 😅 The old system was just so much easier, you where checked each time you go by the guy at the gate, that issued a day permit. No problem.

lol, so each individual of the family has to go at least twice, on work hours/week day, to finally be able to access the premisses later on during the weekend. Like I said, non sense. Not surprised the gate is completely packed. Must be really nice for the people working there. I'm very excited with the idea to go ride there again with the kids, but it's just not possible for me to drive there so many times on week days, with my wife, possibly my kids, just to get a permit. At least Tokai you can do it on the day you want to ride and ride there right after you did the permit.

I’m hoping they realise this system is nonsense and revert back to the old system

20 cars long queue at 14:15… no thanks

Great to have something going on, but also a bit hectic as if you add swartberg, rvr and nationals to this calendar, that’s 6 races on consecutive weekends, all of them almost requiring to spend the night away from home. Busy busy month and half, seems a bit unnecessary to pack all theses races like this, will have to make a selection unfortunately

anyone using flobikes ? it seems wherever I put my VPN at it's still georestricted..

it's CTCT week, so here are my two cents with this race as an example. In general, this is how I approach positionning : - if there is a risk of split (climb, crosswind, or it's just a flat out race), try to be close to the front, but not in the front (because you burn energy for no good reason) - if there's no risk of split and/or the pace is chilled, then hang at the back, with lots of space to react in case of a crash For CTCT for exemple, I try to be close to the front just before the descent of hospital bend, then slowly let myself drift to the back on Edinburg (it also smothes the effort on the climb, saving some matches for later) and the whole section towards muizenberg I'm usually quite far back, chilling, I'll only move back up as we're about to enter Muizenberg as it gets a little twisty there. Of course for road racing, team tactics can dictate what you do, if you have a protected rider you'll possibly have to be in the front if the team decides to set the pace or to close some breakaway, but that doesn't apply to your kids racing. In a XC race, which seems to be what your son did, the front is where you probably want to be, especially when there's some single track because you can lose a lot of time there. It seems from your post that your son was where he was supposed to be, and it's just a case of bad luck, and this happens a lot in bike racing. There's only 1 winner every time and a lot of losers, part of the game 😅 Outside of competition and winning, being where you're supposed to be is also safer, and more fun (you probably don't want to be in the front if you're slower because then you're going to be overtaken left right center which can be scary and degerous, but also you don't want to be stuck behind slower riders as it can be frustrating)

I won't work if all the ambulances are on hospital bend after @ and & piled up 😢

according to finishtime, I've got : $ 118 @ 331 & 376 this is madness

Ok, found it on finishtime you can see everyone and in which cat, here's $, @ and & : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12EZJDgPf086NuDRkvgenLILTKGnrO323wk6F_A48ha0/edit?usp=sharing 118 starters in $, not too bad, don't know all of the names, but don't see names that I know for a fact shouldn't be in this cat either

is there a start list ? Looks like Cycle tour trust is taking PPA as advisers on how to run a disaster race.. 300 in one group down hospital bend, eish...

yeah but there's always those silly attacks going on, if you want to catch a strong guy up ahead, rather work together rather than attack, sit up, attack, sit up, it will always be slower than rolling turns. Blows my mind that everyone threw a possible win away and that they settled for 2nd like this. But apparently the race leading up to that Pogi attack was already hard and a selection was already made when he went, which explains why, if all or at least most of the guys were isolated, I can understand they'd rather race for 2nd than risk bringing their rivals back. I couldn't really watch the race in details, I was on my phone in the middle of something...

Hectic man, glad you’re still with us, looks like a bad one 😢😢 Hopefully you get back on quick 🤞💪

https://www.strava.com/activities/10871490153#3198896947184889150 Not many activities on Strava. Damn I'm frothing to take the family there, will make sure I get the permits next week so that I can take the kids next weekend 😍

I still don't understand how the teams still fall for it.. they must have thought there's no way he holds it for 80km and that they'd control him ? Can't see how on rolling terrain he can do this to a few world tour teams and getaway with it... Brilliant from him but really stupid from them

Silly season, this time for cyclists… had to overtake a few groups (riding ten abreast) on the other side of the road this morning. No wonder some hate us 😒 There was a poor guy lying down on the road under a blankie, looked like he was very sore, not sure what happened there, my guess would be a fall going downhill but it was just before that little bit technical turn where the surface changes 🤷‍♂️ It will be over in a week’s time though when most of this mornings riders will hang their bikes again till next year I guess

do you need a photo of yourself too for the permit ? like for the tokai activity card ?

You can lose 4-5kg between the start and the end of the race bro

They're really not making it easy, but it's worth a try !

That’s awesome, looking forward to hearing about the first brave people to go apply for that permit, I’m actually quite keen to try it this afternoon, wondering if one permit is enough for the whole family or at least just the kids.

Yoh this is impressive, even more impressive is that I realised after my initial order that I had forgotten one item, I wanted to cancel and re-order but their site allows to add an item to a pending order, I've never seen that anywhere else before.

I've Done Jeroen at SISSA and @Sid the Sloth at Freewheel on two different bikes, both seem equaly good imo if you want a high performance yet comfortable fit. Sissa/ErgoFIT is quick-quick when the Retül one takes quite a while, but also Dan is pationnate about what he's doing and explains everything he's doing so basically, if you're interested in what's happening go to freewheel, if you just want a quick fit that works go to SiSSA.

From 36 to 135 lol, they must have been looking at my recent numbers on strava! Weird that they change my number but I didn’t race any of the recent seeding races

I'm assuming shimano ? I've got a lot of love for their products (although a bit less since I moved to 12spd on the road), but that 10spd cog on the MTB cassettes is super ***, they start slipping very quickly, never had that problem on sram 10spd cog... I replaced my 10-12 with cogs I found on aliexpress (they look OEM, but probably fake), it slips on all out sprints, but rides okay-ish at normal wattages.. EDIT : I see I'm going like a broken record on this thread